1 By the age of 29, Charlemagne was already king. He ruled the Kingdom of the Franks, which had already grown to include most of what we call France today. But Charlemagne wasn't satisfied. He had ambitions of making his country even larger and more powerful.2 When Charlemagne wanted something, he didn't just sit there. He wasn't the kind of king to spend his days sitting on his throne. He was full of energy and ideas. And, as King of the Franks, he had the power to make things happen.3 Charlemagne wanted to expand his country as far as possible to the east and to the west. To accomplish this, he went to war. In fact, during Charlemagne's rule, his kingdom was usually at war. Altogether, he waged over 50 military campaigns.